U’nha-3 Rocket Installation Complete

South Korean media reported on 5 December (Wednesday) that the installation of the U’nha-3 rocket was complete. According to KBS an unnamed South Korean (ROK) military official said “circumstantial evidence was detected at the Dongchang-ri (Tongch’ang-ri) launch site in North Pyeongan (P’yo’ngan) Province Wednesday morning, showing the North has finished installing the third and final stage of the Eunha-3 (U’nha-3) rocket.”

According to Yonhap, another unnamed South Korean official said that ” “Some workers are pulling out of the site,” in anticipation of the next phase of launch preparations including the installation of “support equipment, such as radar, cameras and measuring equipment,” prior to the fuel injection process. The South Korean government official told Yonhap that “If the North begins fueling the rocket, fuel tanks will be seen around the launch site. “If many fuel tanks are spotted, we should take that as meaning that fueling has begun.”

Meanwhile, DPRK-Japan intergovernmental talks scheduled to take place in Beijing during 5-6 December have been formally postponed, after the 1 December (Saturday) launch announcement. Kyodo reported on 5 December (Wednesday) that Shinsuke Sugiyama, Director of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs “canceled a planned visit to China ahead of Pyongyang’s rocket launch later this month, government sources said Wednesday.”